Death And Dickinson
... when Dickinson writes, “We talked between the Rooms-/ Until the Moss had reached our lips-/ And covered up- our names-” (Dickinson ln.10-12). Here, Dickinson is enamored with the idea that there is in fact life after death, even though she publicly renounced religion, specifically Christianity, and all its teachings. For face value, at least, the poem is about what it says, death. Taking a closer look at 449, it is clear that the intent of the poem is not what it appears to be. Instead of being a poem about death, the poem is truly about love, or, the “death” that comes after a great love: heartbreak. The opening lines of the poem reveal its true intention: “I died for Beauty- but was scarce/ Adjusting in the Tomb/ When One who died for Truth, was lain/ In an adjoining Room-” (Dickinson ln. 1-4). Though the tone of the lines is definite, the comprehension is fuzzy at best. How is it possible to die for a scarce beauty, other then to “die” for one beauty, a scarce beauty? That sounds immensely close to love, or heartbreak, pending the perspective. How is it, too, possible to die for truth, for what is truth other than loyalty, vitality, or spirit? Replacing the idea of death with the idea of post-love depression leaves the same tone with the reader, and gives an element of understanding for the reader. The two characters of the poem are obviously two people that had just been removed from a deep love. Through this shared removal of love, the two are interconnected, as is the whole world, according to Dickinson. The next stanza connects the deceased, as Dickinson writes, “He questioned softly ‘Why I failed’?/ ‘For Beauty’, I replied-/ ‘And I- for Truth- Themself are One-/ We Brethren, are’, He said-” (Dickinson ln. 5-8). This connection of feelings between the two is a bridge not only between life and death, but through connected feelings. In this stanza, it is worth noting that instead of “died,” Dickinson uses the word “failed” here. She does this to stress that death is not the main idea of the poem, and to show that the tone of the poem remains intact, even when there are changes in standpoint (from death, to a broken heart, to simple failure, the feeling is universal). It is this inter-connection between the two that make them brethren, and here, Dickinson is talking about the connection between all people, through their relative emotions. From heartbreak, to death, to failure, to all sorts of entirely different occurrences, the tone, or feeling remains the same. And, that is why she remarks that “We brethren, are” (Dickinson l 8). More interesting yet about this stanza is the punctuation. Emily Dickinson has one of the strangest punctuation styles in the history of mankind, leaving her unique among many. There are dashes where commas and periods usually go, there are dashes where nothing usually goes, and where she does put commas, they are grammatically incorrectly placed. The reason she can in fact do this is because it is her poetry and she can do whatever it is she feels like, and by placing those commas and dashes in strange places, she can better control how the poem flows as read off the page. Regardless how she presented it, the words of the poem all reflect Dickinson’s thoughts about love. Why then, does Dickinson use death as a representation, instead of going out and using heartbreak? Given the lack of love in her life, it seems strange for her to write about a topic so far removed fro...